


Best Bakers Around (trademarked, obviously)

by Muimor



Series: Peter and Eugene [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Baking, Cake, Can be read as pre-slash, Flash Thompson Redemption, Fluff, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Sequel, Sokovia Accords, but mainly fluff, it's very domestic, they bake a cake, this is just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24542488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muimor/pseuds/Muimor
Summary: Peter shares his fears with Flash, before they reconcile over cake.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Flash Thompson
Series: Peter and Eugene [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773760
Comments: 6
Kudos: 103





	Best Bakers Around (trademarked, obviously)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This is a follow up to the first story in this series, which is a fic for the field trip trope, I highly recommend you read that one first but you don't need to for understanding :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! <3

“So, let me get this straight – you had the opportunity to stay a vigilante and only answer to yourself, but you chose to give yourself more paperwork and make it harder to do your job. Why?”

Eugene “Flash” Thompson, AKA Peter Parker’s fiercely protective childhood friend, the young man who specialised in snarky comments and sarcasm was stretched across the couch, hand running through his hair, watching the morning’s broadcast.

The screen loudly pronounced “Breaking news: Spider-Man declared an Avenger! Identity revealed!” Despite this not being all that new, New York’s resident bug boy had been the biggest headline over the past two days.

“Well, I thought about it for a long time, you know?” Peter himself was curled at the bottom of the couch, dark circles prominent under his eyes and birds’ nest like hair sticking up everywhere having been a bundle of nerves for the last few days. “I thought about what Spider-Man needed to achieve, and it best to just… Sign.”

“Sign the accords which go against all the enhanced rights you stand for?” One sceptical eyebrow raised; eyes still locked on the screen.

“It’s complicated.”

Face turning serious, the other boy turned and sat forward to look at him. Peter sat straighter at the intensity on his old friend’s face. “So uncomplicate it? I know you’ve made the right choice for you Pete, but I don’t know if you know that.”

“You said that Spider-Man stands for enhanced rights, or stood for, I guess. Not that I don’t still… That’s not what I mean. It’s just –“ The words came out quickly and forced.

“Breathe, Pete.”

“Right. Breathing, that’s important.” Peter was ruffling the cuffs of his sweater, his fingers twitching anxiously. 

“It’s just,” he started, “I’m mutated, but I’m not a mutant, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, I’m classed as an ‘enhanced individual’ with ‘innate power’. I’m not permitted to do anything illegal, so vigilantism goes out the window unless I have explicit permission from a supervisor. Spider-Man is a vigilante. It’s… a situation we’re dealing with. I get this lovely piece of jewellery,” Peter gestures at the silver band on his wrist. “So that the big bosses know where I am at all times. I don’t know what other technology they’ve put in this thing.”

Flash’s brow furrowed as he parsed the words of his old friend. “You say that as if you don’t trust the government, are you having regrets?”

He pursed his lips. “No, no regrets. It’s not about trust or faith, being where I am means they’ll have access to an enhanced person that they can test and observe and maybe I can get a few more rights out of them. For me and for others. It’s hard to say what they count as their citizens anymore, and I want to make things better for people like me on a larger scale. That’s what Spider-Man is about, looking out for the little guy and protecting people. If that means I need to sacrifice some freedoms and take some accountability, I will.”

“You’re not a martyr, Parker.” His tone was flat and direct.

“I know I’m not a martyr, Eugene. This puts me in a better position to help more people, as well as do some real good in the world, not just in New York. Plus, better backup. Have you ever seen Vision in action? Terrifying, but awesome. You’d never guess that he doesn’t know how to use a toaster.” 

“Okay yeah that’s true,” the boy’s eyes took on a calculated look, “as long as you weren’t pressured into this by… Anyone?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “What is your issue with Mr Stark?”

Flash raised his hands in surrender, “I just don’t know him Pete, can’t help not trusting the guy when all you hear is the bad.”

“I’ll give you that,” he let out a defeated sigh. “Mr Stark is, well, honestly I don’t know. He feels responsible for me, especially after the plane incident, but sometimes with the way he looks at me I can’t help wondering…”

“Wondering?”

“He looks at me like I’m a weapon. And sometimes I feel like I am.” He glanced at the TV screen, which had thankfully moved on from the news to some sitcom. “But other times he looks at me and he’s like a mentor, or a parent, it’s weird. To answer your question though, no, he didn’t pressure me into this, more the opposite, actually. He’d like you.”

Flash took a moment to reflect on what Peter had said. If any of Peter’s friends knew about expectations, it was him. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have someone like Tony Stark watching your every move, never fully knowing how he felt about you. What he could understand though, was how it felt when all his mother seems to see when she looks at him is regret and disappointment. And he understands that there was a time when he’d do all he could to gain her approval, without very much success. Eugene understood how he needed to move past that and find his own self-worth.

“Even if a person is a weapon, and I’m not saying you are, they’re still a person first and foremost. Just because you can do things other people can’t doesn’t mean you have less worth.”

“Logically, I know that, but on an emotional level I don’t think I do.” Peter had relaxed more as they talked, leaning a bit into Eugene’s space. “And then I think, if I am a weapon, then where are my morals about who ‘uses’ me? Am I a bad person for working for people who potentially do bad things when I have the ability to do good? I don’t have the power to change things on my own, but am I being complacent by doing nothing?”

“You’re not doing nothing.” He took a moment to consider this. “And maybe, further down the line, and if this doesn’t go the way you want it to we can work something else out. I’m sure there are people like you who’d support you if it came to that.”

“You’re right. It’s just a bit intimidating, you know?” He shook his head and looked at Flash, a gentle smile falling onto his face. “Thanks for that, I can’t really talk about this with anyone else. Ned thinks Spider-Man is cool, and I don’t really want to dishearten him with all this serious talk.”

Flash snorted. “Yeah no, Spider-Man is the worst.”

“Says my ‘Number-One-Fan’, Thompson.”

“Okay, Slytherbitch.” He scoffed.

“Excuse me?” Peter looked at him in false horror, dramatically gesturing at his chest as if offended.

“You heard me, Mr ‘I’ll do anything to meet my goals’.”

“Yeah? At least I’m not a Hufflepuff.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Hufflepuff man, flattery will get you nowhere.”

“Maybe food will, then.” Peter jumped to his feet, “I’m hungry, let’s make a cake.”

Eugene laughed, then blinked as Peter stared him down. “You’re serious.”

“Deadly. Get over here, Thompson.” He watched as Peter walked to the kitchen, before rolling off the couch with a grin.

He gave a dramatic sigh as he followed, “Fine…”

Peter was rummaging through the cupboards by the time he reached the kitchen, a large plastic bowl and a spoon sitting on the counter. 

“Ahah!” Peter produced a box cake mix from the depths of the cupboard. Ironically, with Spider-Man’s masked face on it. 

“Why do you even own this?” He took the box gingerly and squinted at the writing on the back of the box.

“Comedy. Now, this has four steps. There’s no way we can fuck it up.” He spread the cups in a fan and threw the smallest at the other boy’s head.

Eugene watched bemusedly as the cup fell to the ground. “Please, don’t say that. Now we’ll fuck it up.”

“If we do I’m blaming you, I’m the best baker around.” He puffed his chest for effect.

The other replied deadpan, “You gave me food poisoning when we were in elementary school.”

“Details, details. Go get some eggs, I’m not entertaining you to be pretty.”

“Aw, you think I’m pretty?” Flash quipped, while reaching into another cupboard.

“Go. I’ll measure the water.”

Actually, once Flash thought about it, he felt awfully familiar in the small kitchen. It was a comfort he wasn’t used to; his own kitchen was large and bare, cold and stifling. The Parker kitchen, no – the Parker home was unassuming and warm, friendly and welcoming. He remembered a lot more about the place than he thought he would, considering the years it had been since he’d been there. 

“Aw crap.”

“What?” He turned to see Peter holding a split batter packet, the flour mixture covering the counter. “You just had to jinx it.”

“It’s fine! We can just brush it back in,” and proceeds to do just that.

“Well done, best baker around.”

“It adds character!” Peter exclaimed defensively.

“True enough, true enough. Did you get the water?” Flash found a knife and carefully broke the eggs into the bowl.

Peter brought the water cup to the bowl. “Hey, you’re pretty good at that!”

Eugene laughed, “It’s just cracking eggs, it’s nothing special.”

“Yeah?” Peter snorted. “Aunt May’s meatloaf regularly has that extra crunch she says is texture. I think it feels suspiciously like an eggshell, but it would probably hurt her feelings if I said so.”

“Well,” he started, “a wise man once told me, ‘It adds character!’”

They took turns carefully stirring the mixture until it was fully combined, before pouring it into a lined cake tin. They were about to put it in the oven, before:

“Shit.”

“What?”

“We didn’t preheat the oven.”

“Damn it.”

So, Peter set the oven to preheat while Eugene started running some water to clean up their dishes. This, of course, escalated into a cake batter/water fight, but at least they wasted some time so the oven could preheat. Win-win situation!

Once the cake was in the oven, and the kitchen was re-cleaned, the two boys flopped back onto the couch with a sigh. 

“That could’ve gone better,” said the mutate, with a wide grin on his face.

The shorter boy laughed, “Nah, it’s perfect.”

The other smiled softly and turned to him. “Listen, really, thank you for hanging out today, this has been fun, and I really needed that talk earlier.”

“No, thank you for having me over, you don’t owe me anything and despite everything you still – “

“Eugene – “

“No, seriously, Peter. I was awful to you. For a long time. That’s not okay.” Eugene looked at him with an intensity in his eyes.

“No, it’s not okay, but I was kind of hoping we could be friends again anyway.” He gave a half smile, “When it comes down to it, I trust you. I’ve trusted you for a long time, and I forgive you. It’s not okay, but I forgive you.”

“…Thank you.” His voice was choked, “And really, thank you for hanging out today, I know saying it’s pretty busy for you is an understatement.”

“Don’t thank me for something like that, you idiot. As long as I’m not pulling you away from anything, I don’t want your parents worrying or anything.” If there was anything Peter remembered about Eugene’s home life, it was that his parents were angry most of the time, at least in his memory, and he didn’t want anything to add to that.

And oh, how Flash wanted to brush that off, “Yeah no, they won’t worry.” But then he thought about what Peter had said. Trust. “Actually, uh, my dad was put into a coma at the start of the year. It’s been… Rough, anyway. I know I’m better off than a lot of people, but it’s been hard.”

“Oh, Eugene. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” Peter, being as tactile as he is, put an arm around his friend. “How’ve you been coping?”

Flash subconsciously leaned into his old friend, “Ah, uh, I don’t really… Well things are okay, Mom’s back now, but she doesn’t really see me a lot anymore, it’s quiet. A bit lonely, honestly.” 

Peter could tell he was uncomfortable with the questioning. “I’m not going to push, but if you want to talk, I’m here. And even if you don’t, you’re welcome here any time. May would be happy to see you, too.”

He gave him a genuine smile, “Thanks, Pete.”

As if on cue, the oven’s timer started to chime, and Peter’s grin could rival the Cheshire cat as he leapt upwards.

“Time to decorate the me cake!” And started to drag Eugene to his feet.

“Alright, alright, let’s go!”

Later that evening, May Parker would arrive home from a day of being hounded by her co-workers about her famous nephew, ready to fall into bed, and be greeted by her two boys (and yes, they were both hers, even if she hadn’t seen one of them in a while) sprawled across each other on her couch, TV blaring static noise in the ambience. She smiled and draped a blanket over the two, before she made her way to the kitchen to grab a drink. To her surprise, she found a sloped cake, messily covered in red and black icing. If she squinted, she could almost make out Spider-Man.

May shook her head with a watery and gentle expression before she retired for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a kudos or comment and let me know what you think <3
> 
> Stay safe!


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